In our hurried world we often try to diagnose problems before we get all the facts from our customers. A customer comes in that needs something fixed and halfway through their explanation we cut them off and say, "Yes, ok, I know what's wrong...." and proceed to try and fix the problem quickly so that we can go on with helping other customers. Big mistake. This only wastes even more time and causes even more frusteration for the customer.
Case in point - I use Yahoo's Sitebuilder program to build my websites, but lately I've been having problems with it and keep getting these error messages. So I call Yahoo to find out what's going on. I explain to the person that I keep receiving these messages and he asks, "Do you have alot of images on your website?"
"Well, yes, I think I do..." I answer.
"That's probably the problem. You might have to use another program like Dreamweaver or Front Page to update your website."
I was not happy with that answer. "Probably" and "might" don't cut it for me. What if that really isn't the issue? Shouldn't he try to find out for sure what the real problem is first before prescribing a solution?
In one of my favorite books of all time, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey also talks about "diagnosing before you prescribe" and says this:
"...Although it's risky and hard...It's the mark of true professionals. It's critical for the optometrist, it's critical for the physician....This principle is also true in sales. An effective sales person first seeks to understand the needs, the concerns, the situation of the customer....He also learns how to relate people's needs to his products and services. And, he has to have the integrity to say, "My product or service will not meet that need" if it will not.
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